


Lazarus Pit and Sleeping Like the Dead

by Hero_addicted



Category: Batman (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 18:32:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8068237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hero_addicted/pseuds/Hero_addicted
Summary: Looking after the demon’s brat could also be considered his punishment. Making sure the kid didn’t kill himself brought nothing but new scars and more baths in the Lazarus pit, not for a for dying again but to clean up overwhelming number of otherwise crippling wounds. The Lazarus pit isn’t pleasant when bathing in it’s waters. It feels like being simultaneously frozen and set on fire at the same time as an obnoxious choir is screaming agony into your ears.





	

Since Damian became robin he’s been in Gotham. At first by orders of Talia Al’Ghul and the League to protect the little Al’Ghul, perhaps he was doing it as his payment to them for bringing him back to life with the Lazarus pit, whether he was willing or not. He couldn’t argue with a second chance at the life that was cut short too soon. Even if immediately after being brought to life he mowed down 12 of the Ra’s bodyguards then proceeding to threaten Ra’s life with a knife he stole from somewhere.

Looking after the demon’s brat could also be considered his punishment. Making sure the kid didn’t kill himself brought nothing but new scars and more baths in the Lazarus pit, not for a for dying again but to clean up overwhelming number of otherwise crippling wounds. The Lazarus pit isn’t pleasant when bathing in it’s waters. It feels like being simultaneously frozen and set on fire at the same time as an obnoxious choir is screaming agony into your ears. However after the first dip or first forced drowning while being restrained in bandages and some calming techniques suggested by the demon himself and learning all the meditation techniques the pit wasn’t so bad.

It’s fairer to say it didn’t drive him off the edge of sanity nearly as much, but it could and sometimes would drive him into a rage. He’s expects to bathe in peace, but he’s also expected to work out his madness by himself. It would be his only moment of “weakness” in his time in the league; but nobody would be crazy enough to challenge his title at that time. 

The Lazarus pit made any injuries instantly disappear and gave him superhuman strength. If that pared with his skills wasn’t enough a deterrent then maybe fighting next to the pit with the risk of falling in and turning completely insane might, besides the Lazarus won’t let him die anyway, and taking someone’s title was a fight to the death.

Challenges they gave the child to prove himself should be considered child abuse in his opinion. But he still does what he must to keep him alive without interfering. Of course he has no say in the matter as he’s pretty much property of Al’Ghul. He could only justify it in his own mind by telling himself the Al’Ghul had many enemies and to them there was no weakness. It really didn’t help that his mother and grandfather would talk about the boy as if he wasn’t human. They only saw worth in him if he was a killing machine not as the kid he was.

Al’Ghul’s callous approach to raising little humans is why he has his job, because despite Talia’s tiny cold heart she was still a mother and when it came to her son there was no room for failure. Though his guess for her protectiveness of this child has less to do with his parentage and more to do with being the only child of the two most ‘perfect’ humans that didn’t come out as a complete abomination like the League’s earlier experimentation for the perfect soldier. Abominations that he’s in no way supposed to know about…

He doesn’t know the specifics of how he got to be The Demon’s Guard. His best guess for Talia making him the top bodyguard of her one and only son and heir of Al’Ghul and Wayne was for the fact that he was related to Batman, as well as the fact that he had no qualms with killing to protect her prize unlike Batman.

He thinks Damian would have never gotten to meet his father very less fight beside him if Talia hadn’t become desperate when the League was attacked by Deathstroke. 

He still ponders what use Talia would have for him. Why would she bother throwing him in the pit and anger her father. The wrath of Ra’s Al’Ghul is hardly something to laugh about. He could kill you as many times over as he pleases. 

Talia ever so rarely says that he possesses qualities she admires with nothing specifically mentioned. He knows that she “likes” him in the most generally distant and uncaring way possible if she’s willing to put the effort of training/torturing him for her family cause and making her father tolerate him and keep him “alive”. 

An asset and investment, that’s mostly all he is. He proved to be a good one. 

The Demon’s guard is a position of the most honors in the League but it is a position to be constantly challenged. If you lose you’re not skilled and therefore not worthy to be a part of the League, if you’re not worthy you deserved to die. Ergo he’s encouraged to kill any and all challengers who fail in their attempt to take his place. He has yet to spare a worthy opponent. He’s only had the pleasure of taking out the trash of pathetic arrogant idiots that dare call themselves assassins.

Sandra or Lady Shiva as she is widely referred to by anyone except for the demons and Jason, was Talia’s guard. She showed him the ropes guiding him in the inner workings of the league when first being a mentally functional zombie. She kept him safe for the most part when he was an instinct driven zombie, not that he would eat brains. He would just do things to keep his body “alive” with no thought backed behind his actions.

Under the league of assassins it wasn’t all fighting for his second life. Even though his main purpose was to protect the young heir of Al’Ghul. He had responsibilities with the League of assassins he did morally abject things for them. Not that he cared.

The thing that bothered him was that too often he would forget he ever went on any mission. He would know he did something when he’d wake up in the Lazarus to his senses on fire, his shredded muscles repairing, and shattered bones melding back together. Those days he knows not to question where he’s been. He recognizes the injuries being healed as the type he gets when over exerting his body in a way that would kill a normal human.

He knew he had blackouts. He’s not sure what happened during them other than the fact that it causes insurmountable damage. He could only guess blackouts meant berserker mode. He assumed it was a side effect of Lazarus insanity paired with superhuman strength.

He needed control and meditation was the way to limit the chances of the berserker rampage. He needed to stay calm. That’s how Ra claims to be able to remain cool and collected. He knew better than to think the League didn’t have ways to make him frenzy when they needed him to. When they did he could do nothing about it but accept his spot of regeneration in the cursed pool among the cave rocks.

The things he remembered his time in the league consisted of rigorous training to be a glorified killer babysitter and conversations with short lived subordinates.

It’s fair to say that he’d built up a reputation for himself outside of being the robin that died.

With the league he became a legend. Not that it was easy, it was hell he’d been poisoned, burned, mauled by a tiger, beaten, drugged, drowned, and climbed a fucking mountain for Talia’s kid. He only failed Damian when he was skewered with a sword, compliments of Talia, as he was busy fighting off manbats as he did his best to disarm bombs. Jason always knew the Al’Ghuls were nothing if not driven.

From then he wasn’t entirely sure what to do, as Damian and Talia were both dead and Ra had no use for him. He had orders from Lady Shiva, one last mission to recover Damian and Talia’s bodies and disappear. Never return to the League ever again.

Disgraceful. Both of them are absolutely disgraceful, as he hands over the bodies and hangs his head in shame. Lady Shiva senses his distress and reaches for him gently lifting his face to meet her eyes normally unreadable but now all he could see in her eyes was grief. He knew that Talia ordered her to stay behind but she blamed still blamed herself for her death. It was her job to protect Talia, just as it was his job to protect Damian. They both failed and that’s all that mattered.

She just gently rubbed her thumb below his eye and whispered, “be free”. He pulled away from her hands, showing weakness was an easy way to get you killed. Even when everyone was weary after the loss. Lady Shiva just smiled “it’s okay” she kissed his forehead like a good mother would and smoothed back his hair. He was at least a couple inches taller than her but she saw him as her son, a son she’d beat the ever loving shit out of in training but a son no less. Only in moments they were alone she’d do this for him. He wouldn’t complain to have more of this kind of attention.

“Get some rest, I’ll watch over you” It’s for the best he let her do this for her sake and his. He was exhausted and he’s still in a powerful position of the League, many would be all too happy to take it from him. No one knew that better than Lady Shiva. Throughout the night she petted his hair and soothed him after he woke from his nightmares. She never asked what the nightmares were she just understood.

The next day he’d go back to Gotham. If he stays any longer he’ll have a visit from less than friendly visit with Ra. Ra never really care much for him. He was impressed by his skills and saw potential even when he held a knife to his throat, but after the loss of his daughter and grandson it would be too easy to place the blame on Jason for his failure to protect Damian. 

If he’d done his job properly there would be one less dead body to bring back. Though who knows with Al’Ghul? They do have a basement full of deformed Damian clones. They could probably give him a new young heir to protect. He laughed to himself yeah right.

Ra has plans for his deceased daughter and grandson. They won’t be dead for long. When they’re back they won’t have use for him.

When he’s about to leave Lady Shiva approaches she’s cleaned up since the night before but there is bags under her eye from staying up all night and fresh bruises on her arms, otherwise she’s still the respected top body guard of the demon’s daughter.

She hands him an ornate box. He bows to her as he accepts the gift. “It was your birthday a few weeks ago” he smiled and opened the box. Inside was a couple of baozi and hidden underneath was a decorative knife attached was a note written in code. “Read the note in times of doubt, and remember I love you” he nods and smiles this won’t be the last time they come across each other “please be safe contact me if you ever are in need of help”

“Be free” god he wishes. He’s returning to Gotham.

He didn’t really know why he was coming back to the hellhole probably to check up on Bruce. After all he’d just lost his son. Maybe he might get thanks for saving Batman and Gotham and his presence at the manor could be tolerated. The Bat brood was forgiving. Anyway without the league he was nothing. Well he was a notoriously efficient assassin and a former crime lord, but he only belonged to Al’Ghul and it’s been so long since he’s been in Gotham as the red hood. The mob boss that the criminals have moved on from seeing him as their leader.

He stands in front of the gate of Wayne manor in late fall standing outside is freezing. Fighting himself whether he should call and ask to come in. This is stupid; he could climb over the gate. But he’s here to ask for a place to stay well he could get an apartment but he’s made amends they should be okay with him. Beside he’s suffered enough to deserve just a shitty apartment, though perhaps he could extort some money from the criminals he used to be the boss of and get a fancy hotel room, but he’s too tired to try and those criminals probably think he’s dead by now so he would only seem like a poser if he was to approach them now. Just then breaking him out of his thoughts Nightwing appeared next to him.

“Hey need help getting in?” he gracefully scaled the bars and cleared over the ornate spikes on the highest part of the gate and landed with a backflip. He smiled from the other side. Of course it’s not a challenge for a robin “you need me to ask Alfred to open up?” Oh please he can make it over in half the time in a multitude of different ways. But he’s tired so…

“Yeah get Alfred” his shoulders sagged. Nightwing materializes a phone out of who knows where in the skin tight costume and calls up Alfred. Seconds later the gates open and he steps inside

Dick opens his mouth and closes it again trying to think of something to say or figuring out which question to ask him first. Where have you been? Are you hurt? Is someone coming after you? Are you staying? He can only respond in tired mumbles. When they reach the door Titus runs around their legs excitedly sniffing and wagging his tail at the sight of Jason.

“Welcome home again master Jason”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this leave a comment saying so and I might continue this story


End file.
